1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to overlay printing in which a form created by a form creating device and data in text format are overlaid and printed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since a business system of a corporation may become a large-scale system, the number of forms and the type of forms used for overlay printing increases.
Also, in order to prevent an unauthorized user from revising the print content in a specific region of a print after overlay printing is performed on a form, exclusion control of an editing operation is executed only when necessary.
In general, exclusion control is control for access and updating of a specific file or specific data. In particular, when writing is performed on a file or a database, the exclusion control temporarily limits access to data or reading and writing of data so as to secure data consistency.
Here, the exclusion control of the editing operation represents control for processing a print to prevent an unauthorized user from revising a print after printing.
To meet demand, the exclusion control is applied to the entire print to prevent revising of the print after printing such that overlay printing is performed using “a dedicated sheet” such as a coated sheet, or that a sheet is entirely processed by laminating after overlay printing.
Meanwhile, as a related technique, there is a printing technique using a clear (transparent) recording material which is a special-color recording material as follows.
The clear (transparent) recording material does not contain a pigment and adds a colorless and transparent image.
Hereinafter, the clear (transparent) recording material is referred to as a clear toner.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-234670 discloses a technique that prevents data from being tampered by duplication or the like, by applying a mark with a semitransparent color material on an image of an ID card or a bank cash card such that the image is not completely covered with the mark.
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-discloses a certificate issuing apparatus that issues a certificate, such as a bill or a check. The apparatus provides a technique capable of printing print items with a transparent fluorescent toner on a face of the certificate, thereby issuing a simple, low-cost, and high-security certificate.
Further, there is another technique as follows which is different from the above-described technique of printing a mark or a character with a clear recording material to prevent data from being tampered.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-provides a separation sheet in which a separation layer is formed on a sheet base surface of, for example, a security or a magnetic card. The size and shape of the separation layer are desirably changed depending on an image, a character, and symbol data.
The separation layer is formed on the sheet base surface by plateless printing.
The clear recording material is typically used as described above.
Since the business system becomes a large-scale system and printing is massively performed, more dedicated sheets or lamination films are used, and hence, printing costs may increase.
Also, by frequently switching the type of sheets for overlay printing, performance of the system may be reduced.
In addition, since the control for overlay printing and the control for laminating are provided, the system may become complicated, and hence, maintenance costs may increase.
These disadvantages are becoming noticeable.